MEDICAL MATTERS
- Medical Matters features questions asked by Members of the ME Association on health-related topics.
- Dr Charles Shepherd and the ME Association's other advisers answer these questions by sharing their expert knowledge.
- Medical Matters is based on the popular ‘Ask the Doctor’ series in ME Essential magazine.
- It is a free resource that supplements the detailed information contained in the full range of literature that can be found in the website shop.
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Questions in the Category: Muscle Pain
What is coat-hanger pain?
Like many people with ME I have quite a lot of muscle and joint pain – especially around the neck and shoulders. One of my friends with ME says that this is called ‘coat-hanger pain’ – a name that neither I nor my GP have heard of before. So what is ‘coat hanger pain? And is it linked to ME?
TENS machines for pain management
I've read that an electrical device called a TENS machine can sometimes be helpful in relieving muscle and joint pain. Is this a device that might help with pain in ME? And is it safe to use?
Q fever fatigue syndrome
A friend of mine who lives on a farm had a short-lived flu-like illness last year and has failed to recover. She now has severe fatigue and a lot of ME-type symptoms. Following a GP referral to an infectious disease specialist she has been diagnosed as having Q fever fatigue syndrome.
Is this the same as ME? And is there any treatment?
Alternative treatments: Flotation tank
A friend of mine who has a painful rheumatic disease has been using a local floatation tank to help relieve her pain. I have quite a lot of ME related joint and muscle pain and the drugs that have been prescribed are of very limited benefit.
Is this something that’s worth trying for pain in ME? Are there any potential side-effects?
Hyperparathyroidism
Many symptoms of Hyperparathyroidism are similar to ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia. Would a GP be able to recognise hyperparathyroidism and what are the treatment options?
Post-Viral Fatigue Syndrome, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Encephalopathy, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Long Covid
Please can you define what PVFS, ME/CFS, and Long Covid mean. I am having difficulty determining if they are the same disease or different. Thank you!
Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET)
Why aren’t the oxygen levels of ME sufferers routinely checked?
Aetiology: Immune System
I keep seeing references to ‘low level immune system activation’ being an important research finding in ME/CFS. But what does this mean in language that I can understand?
Polymyalgia
You don’t often cover more elderly people with ME/CFS – so I’d like to pass on a note of warning about a serious health condition that causes ME/CFS-like symptoms. My wife, who is in her early sixties, started to have really quite severe muscle and joint pains and in places – shoulders and hips – where she didn’t normally have pain. We put it down to ME/CFS to start with and so did the GP. But when the pain got worse, and painkillers weren’t working, the GP did some blood tests – one of which showed a high level of inflammation – and she was diagnosed with an inflammatory muscle condition called Polymyalgia. Is polymyalgia more common in people with ME/CFS? And is this something that should be ruled out in elderly people before a diagnosis of ME/CFS is being made?
Addison's Disease
I was interested to see the item on Addison’s disease in the Winter issue of ME Essential as I have a close friend with this rare disease and it obviously has some interesting symptom overlaps with ME/CFS. So is there any evidence that adrenal gland failure, and steroid hormone production, could also be involved in ME/CFS? If so, would it be worth looking at steroids as a possible form of treatment for ME/CFS?
Dr Charles Shepherd
Dr Shepherd has been Trustee and Hon. Medical Adviser to the ME Association for more than 40 years. He is integral to the charity's activities and provides information and support based on his professional knowledge, personal experience as a doctor with ME/CFS, and the understanding gained from helping many thousands of people with the condition. He was a member of the comittee responsible for the 2021 NICE Clinical Guideline and is a recognised expert on ME/CFS in the UK. His knowledge extends to Post-Viral Fatigue Syndromes (PVFS), Myalgic Encephalopathy/Encephalomyelitis (ME), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) or Long Covid.
If you have questions about ME/CFS or Long Covid, you can:
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Medical Matters is based on the popular ‘Ask the Doctor‘ series featured in the highly-regarded member’s magazine, ME Essential, and in the healthcare professional magazine, ME Medical. Both are produced by the ME Association and published as hard-copy magazines every 3 months and sent to members and healthcare professionals by post to home or business addresses.
If you are a Health Care Professional you can sign-up to receive ME Medical magazine (people with ME/CFS can also nominate their HCP by completing the sign-up form).